Fall Hikes on Mt Hood

Fall Hikes on Mt Hood

Autumn is the secret season for hiking Oregon's Mount Hood. Huckleberries are perfectly ripe, mushrooms are popping out of the ground, salmon are moving upstream to spawn, and fall colors frame green mountain views with red and gold. The kids are back in school and tourists are back home, so you can get the trail all to yourself.

Taking advantage of some sunny weather last week, I hiked a stretch of the Salmon Huckleberry wilderness. After taking in the views from Tumala Mountain, the trail led down into the Eagle Creek drainage, and then along the ridge of Salmon Mountain. The huckleberries were fat, juicy, and everywhere. There were some early bolete, amanita, and russula mushrooms pushing their way out of the duff - prety impressive for how dry it still was. I can't wait for the fall rains to really bring those shrooms out. Oddly, I didn't find that many huckleberries on Huckleberry Mountain - at least not near the trail.

Mount Hood jutted above the Salmon River valley over Hunchback and Zigzag Mountains. The only people I ran into along the whole trail were part of a work crew doing trail improvement. I thanked them for their efforts and enjoyed the good work they had done.

The wonders of fall on Mount Hood don't really peak until the rain starts falling. Then the streams have enough water for the salmon to make it to their spawning grounds,and the mushrooms really come out.

Next Adventure has some trips planned to take you up to see it all. Join us October 16 for a stroll along the Clackamas River to see the salmon, mushrooms and Pup Creek Falls. Then on November 11, we'll be hiking up Angel's Rest for some spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge.Find out more and sign up at NextAdventure.net.

And once the snow returns to Mount Hood, we've got more trips to take you out to play on the snow again this year. Stay tuned for dates of our snowshoe and cross-country ski trips.